While leveling a Warrior to 60 is a tough challenge, players who manage to do it are rewarded with a Class that has the most potential in the game (both for Tanking and Damage Dealing). For the most part, Fury Warriors top DPS meters in Classic and scale very well with Gear, which means that they get even better as the game progresses through Raid Tiers. However, the fact that the Class does well in the End-Game is wide known, which results in an abundance of Warriors and potentially a substantial difficulty in finding a strong Raiding Guild. Another side effect of Warrior's popularity and clearly visible strength is the fact that solid gear is hard to get, as competition for it is always fierce (there will be multiple Fury Warriors in every Raid and all of them will want exact same items). If you want to main a Fury Warrior, you have to be one of the best Fury Warriors out there, otherwise, you will drown in a sea of other Rage users.
Pros | Cons |
Scales very well with Gear | High Gear dependence (badly geared Warrior deals rather low DPS) |
Very high DPS potential, especially with proper itemization | Very slow and difficult to level solo |
Can act as an Off-Tank in Raids and as the Main Tank in 5-mans if needed (a spare Tanking Set might be required, however) | The most popular class in the game. Getting gear in Raids (or even finding a Raid/Guild) might be a real problem |
Strong in PvP as well, especially with a pocket Healer | The abundance of Fury Warriors may force you to eventually roll as a Tank |
Very high Skill-cap, not only in PvP (Warrior is a great class for minmaxers) | High repair bills will burn a large hole in your Wallet, especially during Raid progression |
The Best Race Choice
Note: Here, we will point you only towards the best PvE DPS Warrior Race. If you'd like to know more about other race picks, please check our WoW Classic Beginners Guide, where we dive deep into all available Warrior's race choices for both factions.
Alliance | If you want your Racials to affect your DPS, there is only one choice in Alliance and it is Human. His Sword and Mace Specializations give him a considerable edge over other available allied races. They decrease your chance to miss an attack, reduce enemy's chance to dodge, block, and parry, and most of all, reduce glancing blow (glancing blows deal damage reduced in proportion to the difference between Target's defense skill and Attaker's weapon skill) penalty, which is huge for DPS. |
Horde | Classic's racials are not too balanced. This clearly shows when you look at the ones available to the Horde and see that Undead, Troll, and Tauren can't really compete with Orc. He's Axe Specialization and Blood Fury have the highest impact on DPS, leaving all other Horde Races far behind. Moreover, Orc's Stun-Resist passive makes him great in PvP as well, so you don't even have to make any compromises between PvP and PvE when picking a Race on the Horde side. |
The Best Professions Choice
There is only one profession that makes a real impact in Raids and it is Engineering (Alchemy is also a decent option, but you can buy Flasks, Elixirs, and Potions from other players, which makes it much less impactful). It gives you access to powerful explosives that increase your AoE and Single-Target DPS. On top of that, it lets you create and use Gnomish Battle Chicken Trinket that summons a Guardian Chicken that fights at your side and has a chance on hit to cast a "Battle Squawk" which boosts Melee attack speed of all Party members by 5%, making it a must-have in every competitive group. The fact that Engineering is also considered the best PvP profession is an added benefit to its power in PvE environment.
At the start, you should pick Mining to supplement your Engineering Skill, you can always switch it to another profession of your liking later on.
Note: If you want to know more about all available professions and secondary skills, please check our detailed WoW Classic Professions Guide.
Statistics Priority
The Best Talent Builds
Proper Talent allocation is essential for maximizing Damage output. Here, we will describe the most optimal spec and lead you through the Talent Trees level-by-level to explain some choices.
There are two paths to choose - the standard Dual Wield build that provides the highest sustained DPS and an alternative Two-Handed build that can be used if you happen upon a solid Two-Handed Weapon that is clearly better than your current One Handers. Moreover, the Two-Handed build is a good choice at the start, because of lower Hit requirements (with a Two-Handed weapon, you ignore dual-wielding Hit chance penalty), especially on Horde's side thanks to the Windfury Totem.
Fury Warrior Dual Wield PvE DPS Build
Fury Warrior Two-Hander PvE DPS Build
Where to get Pre-Raid/Raid BiS Gear
In order to maximize your DPS, you should aim to assemble the best possible Gear. This applies to both Pre-Raid and each of the Raid Tiers/Phases. Also, remember that it is the armament that gives the highest DPS boost, so you should start by getting the best warrior weapons available. Below, we present you the BiS (Bst-in-slot) list for all equipment slots.
Note1: The list will be updated with new items concurrently with the introduction of new Raids/Phases, so remember to visit this page after new Raid opens for an update on what current best Warrior items in each lot are.
Note2: Best in Slot items may vary depending on your Race, because of Weapon Skill-increasing Racials (Swords and Maces will be better for Humans and Axes will be better for Orcs).
The Best Enchants and Consumables
Proper enchants and consumables will greatly increase your Damage output. While getting enchants is a one-time-deal, farming consumables might be a real chore, but it is still worth it as numbers clearly show.
The Best Enchants | |
Weapon (MH) | Enchant Weapon - Crusader (Chance to gain +125 Strength for 15 sec.) |
Weapon (OH) | Enchant Weapon - Crusader (Chance to gain +125 Strength for 15 sec.) |
Weapon (2H) | Enchant Weapon - Crusader (Chance to gain +125 Strength for 15 sec.) |
Head | Lesser Arcanum of Voracity (+8 Strength, available from Libram of Voracity Quest in Burning Steppes) |
Chest | Enchant Chest - Greater Stats (+4 to all stats) |
Legs | Lesser Arcanum of Voracity (+8 Strength, available from Libram of Voracity Quest in Burning Steppes) |
Hands | Enchant Gloves - Greater Strength (+ 7 Strength) |
Feet | Enchant Boots - Minor Speed (+8% Run Speed) or Enchant Boots - Greater Agility (+7 Agility) |
Shoulders | Chromatic Mantle of the Dawn (+5 to all Resistances) |
Wrists | Enchant Bracer - Superior Strength (+9 Strength) |
Back | Enchant Cloak - Lesser Agility (+3 Agility) |
The Best Consumables | |
Blessed Sunfruit | +15 Strength for 10 minutes. Available from the Argent Dawn quartermaster after reaching Revered reputation. |
R.O.I.D.S. | +25 Strength for 60 minutes. Reward from the Rage of Ages repeatable Quest in the Blasted Lands. |
Dense Sharpening Stone | +8 Weapon Damage for 30 minutes. Can be bought on AH or directly from a Blacksmith. |
Elixir of the Mongoose | +25 Agility and +2% Critical Strike Chance for 60 minutes. Can be bought on AH or directly from an Alchemist. |
Juju Power | +30 Strength for 30 minutes. Reward from a reputable Quest available from NPC Witch Doctor Mau'ari, Everlook, Winterspring. |
Juju Might | +40 Attack Power for 10 minutes. Reward from a reputable Quest available from NPC Witch Doctor Mau'ari, Everlook, Winterspring. |
Winterfall Firewater | +35 Attack Power for 20 minutes. Drop from Winterfall Furbolgs in Winterpring (this is an alternative for JuJu Might, as the effects don't stack). |
Mighty Rage Potion | + 45 to 75 Rage on a 2-minute Cooldown. Can be bought on AH or directly from an Alchemist. |
In Classic, Warriors don't have a strict rotation and use a priority list instead. This means that they don't have a build-up phase and can swap Targets quickly without losing DPS.
Please use the following Priority List for sustained Single-Target Damage output:
Tips and Tricks for aspiring Warrior Raiders
END NOTE
This Guide should help you to prepare yourself for that legendary Vanilla Raiding Experience and allow you to progress through Raid Tiers efficiently and with a good amount of fun.
We hope that you have found this guide useful and informative. If we have missed a piece of information that is important to you, please let us know!
Please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
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